The imam says he wants to bridge divides. Maybe he does, but first, he wants to poke a bunch of skeptics in their vulnerable body parts. Any imam who would put an Islamic center two blocks from where 2,605 people lost their lives in an attack led by Islamist terrorists -- at a location where the landing gear of one of the 9/11 airplanes crashed -- clearly is a poor ambassador for civility.

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But he is also an American, and it's time Americans stopped...]]> Sun, 25 Jul 2010 00:00:00 -0500 Today's question is: Why have both major candidates for California governor -- Democrat Jerry Brown and Republican Meg Whitman -- failed to endorse the governor's authority to furlough state workers?

How do you build a house without a hammer?

Here's the situation. The governor can't just snap his fingers and cut the size of state government to close a budget shortfall. His hands are tied. He has to honor collective bargaining, abide by a complex array of employment rules, justify his decisions in court and deliver mandated services. The governor also has to sell his plans to the spend-happy Democratic leadership of the California Legislature.